The moment Cermin saw red spilling, something snapped in his mind to return him back to his former mentality. Taking away some of Aurion’s rage.

Vesuvius’s sword sliced through Ronin’s chest diagonally, but thankfully the cut was not that deep to damage his organs. However, it was deep enough to tear the flesh and give a large wound.

Ronin continued to bleed and had fallen to his knees, but forced himself to draw runes on his palm even through the pain.

“Ronin!” Cermin yelled, going to his side.

The god Pallas raised an eyebrow. “A Commoner dressing up as my follower? And a Coal Heartsone too….”

Vesuvius’ eyes widened, momentarily stunned at the appearance of this man.

“Zafeiri…” He muttered the name. “Son of the cursed duke.”

Ronin’s smirked. “So you do remember after all the agreement you signed.”

Cermin frowned. “What agreement?”

“Unluckily for you gods…..” Ronin had finished the last line of the ‘hound’ rune on his palm, and shakily stood up.

“Darkness favors the cursed.”

Soon, from his blood flared the three dogs. Larger than the Sapphire Hounds of Pallas and Vesuvius, created from blood but made of shadow.

The bared their teeth and started attacking the Celestian gods!

“Fausforus!” Both exclaimed, as the dogs pounced on them.

Cermin felt shivers down his spine. Right, Ronin was powerful because of the Lord of Darkness. If not for him, Ronin would not have been able to save the prince.

Cermin gulped, but closed his eyes and pressed his hand on Ronin’s injured chest.

“Sacrificial Light.” He said, and his palm glowed…..

And soon, Ronin’s injury was closing. It had healed in three seconds, but as it did, Ronin felt something else.

“No.” Ronin shook his head. “Your Flame, don’t….”

Cermin shook his head. “Shh….. It’ll be alright. This is nothing. You need to get out of here.”

It must have been a new skill, meaning that Cermin was in his Level 60s now. And like Illusive Shift, it comes with the cost of his EXPs/ Flame.

Ronin stood up. “No. I take one of them and you take the other. The dogs will help fend off the other dogs. Then, once they’re weak enough or distracted, we get out of here.”

“But Ronin, you’re not—“

“Strong enough? You haven’t seen yet what I could do with the Lord of Darkness on my side. ” Ronin sneered, as he sliced his palm again using Cermin’s sword to strengthen his Daemonic Hounds.

Cermin thought he was strangely happy about this, but then perhaps it was because Ronin never felt powerful before.

He was bullied as a Commoner his whole life, and now that he had the power against gods themselves, he felt ecstatic about it.

Cermin just hoped it doesn’t get into his head too much.

“I’ll take Vesuvius. He seems more dangerous than Pallas.” Cermin said.

Ronin nodded, and then summoned his Magmatic Rage.

“AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!” He yelled as he felt that skull-breaking pain again.

The gods were battling the hounds and would soon defeat them, but this scream distracted them enough for Ronin to summon a wall of rocks separating Pallas and Vesuvius.

Ronin had hypothesized that if he meditated more, he’d be able to control himself better during Magmatic Rage.

And he was right, as his motions have more directions and intention behind them. His sanity was less strained, and as the wall was about to close up…..

He had managed to burst through, and deliver a kick at the face of the God of Peace!

Pallas spat out a tooth, indignant at having this Commoner injure him like that!

Cermin was stuck on the other side battling Vesuvius. The Daemonic Hounds clamped their teeth on the Sapphire Hounds’ necks, and the battle was much more balanced now.

One on one. They just need to hope that the people in the ballroom would not notice and join in the fray.

“So you are the vessel of Fausforus. It makes sense that he’d choose a Commoner, but someone from my kingdom, Sephyrine?” Pallas cackled. “He must hate me so for destroying half his castle with mere words.”

Ronin did not answer and charged, summoning geysers and lavas.

However, there were no lavas or geysers that appeared. He can only summon rocks and cracks om the floor, but as soom as Pallas’ words reached those damages…

They disappeared as easily as they come.

“Do you really think you can bring fire and brimstone so easily in the Palace of the Gods? Our territory?” He sneered, and summoned a bunch of glyphs to wrap around Ronin’s arms and legs.

Ronin managed to dodge them, but only barely. He was enraged too so he can’t really think of his movements properly despite the meditation.

But with enough persistence, he managed to pin down Pallas to the ground.

He snarled like a beast at him, his fiery veins pulsing.

Pallas never once showed any extreme emotion. No anger or fear, always maintaing a serene and placid face.

“You think Vesuvius was the more difficult opponent, huh? That wad the same mistake the Dark Lord made many eons ago too.”

And soon the beast-like Ronin’s eyes widened as Pallas morphed into something else…..

Meanwhile, Cermin continued to battle with Vesuvius. Without his Shield of Solace, he was in more danger than ever.

He could not use Sacrificial Light on himself because as the name suggests, it had to be a sacrifice. He can only heal others, and noth himself.

He could not use Shadow Seeker either when he tried to summon it. Because Vesuvius was a Celestian, not an Abydsal god or a Daemon. Even if he was cruel, he was not ‘part of the shadows’.

The same applied to Slashing Ray. There was nothing to cleanse of Vesuvius.

The best he could do is to constantly blind him with Sunburst, or use Sight of the Orbit to monitor his movements.

But he can’t give up now, not when Ronin was already helping him and trying his best. He can hear large booms on the other side of the rock wall, but could not see anything.

He only hoped those explosions were Ronin’s attacks, not Pallas’.

Ronin had managed to defeat Lovushka, who was supposedly the God of Art. He knew how powerful Lovushka was.

He slashed forward at the God of War, who was much more skilled than him. Cermin’s leg received a cut, then his shoulder, then his arm.

But despite this, he kept fighting to the death.

There was only one image in his mind as he fought.

Ronin bleeding on the chest for him, bringing him back memories of a past that felt like a thousand of years ago.

There, laying on the concrete, was his gege.

The blood remained fresh on his mind, always.

The sight of fresh blood would often bring glimpses of that night. But on Ronin, it was much worse.

He won’t lose him like his gege. Never!

“I WILL NOT LET YOU TAKE HIM FROM ME AGAIN!!!” He yelled as he striked for Vesuvius’ head.

Vesuvius had easily sidestepped, smugly grinning as he had an opening to cut Cermin again as he missed.

But in the blink of an eye, Cermin redirected his sword into a circular motion below, cutting through his shoulder as he cut Cermin on the stomach.

“Ack!!” The God of War yelled.

Both of them fell to their knees, but never let go of the sword. They kept their grip tightly, trying to cut the other deeper.

Cermin was in a more dangerous position here because he was injured by the side of his waist, and he might get cut in half at this rate.

But he kept pushing through, his eyes glowing a bright light that continued to burn and burn Vesuvius’ eyes!

“AHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!” He screamed as the light continued to attack him, and felt the burn of the sun on his shoulder.

The sword was slowly making it’s way from his shoulder to his chest, and he let go of his grip from the pain of it.

“Sunburst.” Cermin said, but this was no ordinary Sunburst.

The rays coming out from his sword turned into deadly beams that burned everything it touched. This caused several parts of Vesuvius to have dark spots, and they all came from the inside.

The very materials that made him exist was being burned, and if he doesn’t make Cermin let go now….

Huge chunks of him will no longer exist or be regenrated.

And so with his last bit of strength, he yanked out the sword with his own hands, causing it to bleed and suffer more burns, and shove Cermin along with it.

Just in time, the walls break through to reveal…..

A very injured Ronin running fast to avoid something.

And that something was a humanoid figure made of nothing but moving words. The true form of Pallas, the embodiment of peace.

Which dealt blows at Ronin while receiving none from him. He remained unscathed.

“Come back here, Dark Lordling.” He said as he continued spinning.

Ronin saw Cermin and picked him up. His Magmatic Rage was gone, and he was bleeding everywhere.

Pallas had somehow made a thousand cuts on his body without even touching him.

“We need to go.” Ronin said, and carried Cermin again.

Cermin took a glance at this god, and said once more time. “Sunburst.”

He aimed his sword at his directions, and beams of light burned the glyphs that formed Pallas. This was the first time he shouted, his screams rocking the whole Palace of the Gods itself.

This would surely alarm everyone, and Ronin spent more EXP to move faster.

He moved fast like a shadow among the surprised guest, so fast that people thought there was many of him all at once.

This distracted him enough until the reached the portal…..

And went back to the world of humans.

Breathless, bleeding and bruised. But still alive and together.

Cermin smiled weakly.

“I’m glad….. That you’re still with me… My friend.”

Before Cermin passed out from exhaustion, he touched Ronin…

And used 4 levels worth of his Flame to heal him. Going back to Level 59 and losing his Sacrificial Light skill after this one big sacrifice.